and michelle malkin because it's thursday. >> brian: what do you want to do in the last three seconds? just stare? >> steve: let's wave good-bye. bill: fox's alert starts morning. federal reserve trying to save the global economy from another meltdown. concern growing over europe's debt crisis. that is where we start. breaking news. happened this past hour. how are you doing? i'm bill hemmer. martha: i'm doing okay. scratchy voice. i'm martha maccallum. good to see you as always, bill. good morning, everybody. this is a big story, one as americans we want to ignore at some points but the fed is now, our fed, is now revving up the printing presses and they're planning to make a lot of cash readily available and the stock market may be the only positive point in all this, they are surging. bill: print, print. we're not only ones riding to the rescue. european central bank, japan

they're all involved. stuart varney breaking the news on fbn a short time ago. good morning. how will this work, stuart? >> it is very simple. we will flood europe with cheap dollars. they have ground to a halt. they have run out of money. nobody wants the euro. in comes the u.s. green back riding to the rescue. that is exactly what will happen. we're cranking up printing press for the federal reserve. joined by the canadians, brits, japanese, european central bank. they're all in it. cranking out much cheaper dollars, flooding them into europe to relief tear crisis. bill: this is just like the fed printing money here at home in the american market but instead it will go to the europeans? >> all these central banks have a store of dollars. bill: how does that affect us? >> the immediate outcome is our stock market goes straight up. because that is what investors want to see, a rescue of europe. there is another negative you will see fairly soon. that is inflation.

when you print a ton of dollars you raise the price of energy and food. it is already happening. price of oil has gone to $101 per barrel. the good side, the stock market goes up. your wallet looks fatter. the 401(k) does well and you will have inflation starting now. bill: you don't know how deep a hole in europe. why don't we let the germans and the french figure that out. why do they need us? >> that is good question. did germany outmaneuver the united states. the germans are the ones with money in europe. why didn't they print euros? why didn't they back up the debt of italy and greece? they didn't. they dragged their feet and would not do it. bill: why don't you think so the? >> german taxpayers, german voters do not want to be bailing out greeks and italians. they don't want to do that. so they put pressure on the united states, remember there has been two days of meetings in the white house. all of our senior leadership and the europeans, two days of crisis meetings.

they were pressured to come to the rescue with the american dollar and that's what's happened. bill: i know you have a lot to say at 9:20. stuart, talk to you a bit later. >> yep. bill: here's martha. martha: that is incredible. here is stuart's point, germany doesn't want to bail out greece and italy its own neighbors and partners in the eurozone, right? we in the united states will make a huge contribution printing this money to get this done. stuart says the stock market likes it. in the overall economic outlook look what this means. there is lot of numbers on this screen. this is very significant. it shows just how much trouble these countries are in. when you look at debt-to-gdp ratio, right, this is how much debt they have compared with their gross domestic product, how much they're putting out. look at greece. everybody knows what greece's economic troubles have been. 165% of debt to their gdp which is 312. italy is at 121% of their total output. they owe more than that in debt. ireland is at 109%.

you heard how tough ireland's situation is. portugal at 106. hear is the scary things, folks, we're at 100% debt-to-gdp ratio. a healthy environment for the u.s. economy would be 60, 65, 70% of that gdp to debt ratio. this is a very disturbing set of numbers. bill: thank you, martha. members of the super-committee tasked with dealing with that debt, meeting on the hill. the panel ending in a stalemate you remember, failing to agree to slash a trillion dollars from our budget. ohio republican senator robb portman trying to give some explanation for the deadlock there. >> frankly some members were pulled back by their colleagues when they found out how close we were. the reason we have fundamental differences about the size and scope of government. i'm disappointed. i was very optimistic we could achieve at least 1.2 trillion in savings but we

can't give up. the point i'm making is, we were able to achieve some real progress in terms of spending proposals to reduce the size and scope of government. bill: the die is there. jon kyl of arizona the group got together to thank everyone for their hard work. just a little get together talking about what they were not able to get done from yesterday. martha: where do we go from there, right? here is another tough issue that's dividing lawmakers right now. extending the payroll tax break, okay? if lawmakers don't act on that american workers will see their taxes go up in january because they have been getting a break on the payroll tax. that will instantly pop up in your paycheck in january. some lawmakers argue an extension of the benefit that's been given could cost the treasury more than $100 billion and cause our debt to increase even more. senate majority leader harry reid says he has a solution for that. he believes millionaires should be the ones to make up the difference. they should pay more. listen. >> what we're asking is that

not millionaires, not billionaires, but people who made more than a million dollars a year, pay a tax on money they make over a million dollars. this is 3.25% tax on people who make more than a million dollars. we don't tax the first million. martha: so reid's also saying that democrats want to extend the tax cut for the middle class. for some context on all of this, the social security tax cut was part of last year's tax agreement that also extended the bush-era tax cuts, right? without the extension, about 160 million americans, middle class americans, will see their taxes pop up come january when they start to get their paychecks. for a family earning $50,000 a year that will amount to a tax increase of about $1,000. so that is a nice piece of change. ouch, right? bill: now to the trail and the big headline of the day. three hours from now, herman cain will talk about his way forward after a new scandal

hits the presidential candidate. campaign manager mark block saying quote, there is no way he is dropping out after an atlanta woman claims she carried out an affair with cain for 13 years. block says only two things could push cain out. one, if no one shows up to his events or mrs. cain. the candidate talking to senior staff following the latest algation by telephone. -- allegation. >> now with this latest one, we have to do a assessment whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in some people's mind as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forward. bill: there was more from that conversation. cain says he helped the woman, ginger white, financially but nothing more than that. martha: a lot of questions about that. we'll talk about that some more coming up. texas governor rick perry picking up endorsement for his race in the white house. arizona sheriff joe arpaio

is in new hampshire showing his support for rick perry. he is known for his tough policies on illegal immigration along the arizona-mexico border of course. listen to this. >> i decided to endorse governor perry because he is out there right now. he is not just talking. he is doing the job. >> what we need is a president, a president that will have the courage, a president who has the will, to implement and to send the resources to that border to secure it and i have been a law and order governor and i intend to be a law and order president as well. martha: mitt romney and michele bachmann had both been trying to get joe arpaio's endorsement. rick perry came up the winner with that one. bill: we'll reach out to the sheriff to try to get him on. see where he is on this position. all the information on the candidates and top political news is online.

foxnews.com/aehq. that is america's election headquarters. martha: there is a massive show of police force in l.a. we're looking at live shots what is going on there right now. 1400 officers clearing the occupy los angeles camp early this morning, making more than 200 arrests. house who is adam housley live at the camp outside l.a. city hall. what is going on, adam? >>reporter: the k-rails are being put in place. they came into force. 1400 officers. we'll walk right past. the k-rails are brought in to block off entire park. the park was occupied two months. they came in here. arrested 200 as you mentioned. it is a quite a mess. they went in hazmat suits and took off riot gear and put on hazmat suits and walked through the park to make sure everybody was out. once they did this is what is left. you see piles of trash everywhere. now what they will do, once they get this place all

blocked off, they will come in and with hazmat suits and literally sterilize it and then they will have to rebuild it all, martha. martha: they say last night as this got underway, the police say things were pretty peaceful, right, adam? >> reporter: yeah, pretty peaceful. they had several hundred people said they were not going to leave. they arrested more than 200. there were six or seven incidents got a little tense. one of them is the treehouse. still dark out here on the west coast. in the treehouse there were three people. they were the last three taken out. they had to be shot with a bean bag with a rifle to come out because they wouldn't come down. the reason why it was peaceful, martha, because of the plan. they had 1400 police officers come in here in riot gear. that is five to one over the protesters. there was really nothing the protesters could do here. there was massive show of force was just impressive. in fact up until 15 minutes ago you still see hundreds of officers around here holding the riot gear.

thank any they didn't have use any of that, martha. martha: that is positive for overwhelming show of force ended up making it a peaceful situation and last ones down were people in the tree. adam housley. thank you very much. bill: bean bags? martha: adam, what did you say they were shooting them with? >> reporter: those bean bag rounds. nonlethal weapons. they sting and they cause welts and they hurt. they fired a couple at the guy up in there. when those bean bags hit them he said right away i'm coming down, i'm coming down. he was the last guy. martha: what a bizarre world we're living in. bill: thank you, adam. more stories straight ahead including this in "america's newsroom." she vanished without a trace. police say her ex-fiance is the prime suspect a judge about to make a big decision on the fate of the couple's children. the latest in the disappearance today of michelle parker. martha: one of the obama administration's biggest supporters during the health care battle has made a major

u-turn. how outgoing representative barney frank taking a parting shot at the white house. bill: mitt romney sitting down with bret baier and it got a little testy at times over the issue of romney changing his positions on health care. >> you say on camera and other places at times you thought it would be a model for the nation. >> you're wrong, bret. >> no, no. there is tape. >> the tape out there, continue to read the tape. [ male announcer ] how are we going to make this season better than the last?

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but too many plants don't use it. we can't wait. epa must update power plant standards to protect our kid [ baby coughing ] martha: we've got a fox news alert right now. word just coming in britain has closed its embassy in iran. they have also ordered the immediate closure of the iranian embassy in london saying that iranian diplomats have 48 hours to basically close up shop in london and get out of town. it follows yesterday's violence we saw at the british embassy in tehran. hard-line student protesters stormed the site smashing

windows. some still shots we saw unbelievable pictures from the british embassy. david cameron the prime minister is outraged what is going on. we'll have a live report from london just a few minutes away. bill: in the meantime taking a parting shot on his way out of washington, congressman barney frank who announced he would not seek re-election next year supports the repeal of a controversial but significant part of president obama's health care overhaul. john fund senior editor of "the american spectator". john, good morning. welcome back here. >> thank you. bill: what part of health care does frank not like? >> the independent payment advisory board. this is supposed to start up in 2014. it is a 15-member group of unelected bureaucrats appointed by the president. and they are designed to place medicare cuts into the system so that we can pay for the medicare bills. the problem is this.

congress almost has no say over this. congress can change some of the numbers but they have to reach the same overall total as the payment board. 3/5 of the senate can reject the payment cuts but basically this is end-run around congress. we could have medicare cuts approved by this board of unelected bureaucrats without passage by congress and without even the president's signature. bill: what happens to the health care law if this is not in there and overturned or repealed? >> basically whatever pretense there are are cost controls goes out the window. i think along with the individual mandate this is the most important part of obamacare. as you know the individual mandate is going before the supreme court. it may well be declared unconstitutional this coming june. i think we have 12 democrats including barney frank saying look, this independent advisory board doesn't make sense. it is an end-run around the constitution and we should get rid of it. i think you see democrats on the one hand, republicans on the other hand increasingly

having doubts about obamacare. i had a democratic senator tell me recently this bill was so badly written called it a dog's breakfast. it is not too liberal. parts don't work together. bill: don't tell the dogs that. does the law still hold up if it is taken out? wasn't this panel by some considered the death panel? where a committee gets together and decides how much you get and do not? >> no. the death panels are something else. those are advisory boards to encourage people to reach end of life decisions. congressman phil row and sponsor and chief sponsor of bill to repeal the independent advisory board says this is the real death panel. setting a cap on overall spending on medicare you're imposing cuts along the system. they are cuts that often don't have to do with patient care or what makes sense but cuts that we have a arbitrary ceiling on medicare. bill: you say there are 12 democratic sponsors on this

bill. why is this happening now. >> obamacare is becoming weaker. we have a "pew research poll" obama care popularity among. some dem contracts are unhappy about the bill. they say this plan doesn't make any sense. bill: so it goes because they're reading it now, john. it is only 2,000 pages. >> thank you. bill: it was a surprise when barney frank said this yesterday. >> you betcha. bill:. >> democrat from massachusetts. thank you, jon. we'll talk again. martha. martha: there is a battle heating up over alabama's immigration law. two top justice department officials are heading south to take it on. we'll look at both sides of that issue. bill: also a military hero in a fight of another kind. why the medal of honor winner is taking his former employer to court. [applause]

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bill: there are new and significant developments today in the disappearance of michelle parker. all eyes on the couple's children as a emergency custody hearing heads to court. the florida mother vanished the same day she appeared on the popular tv show, "the people's court". her ex-husband or ex-fiance is the only suspect. martha: how about this? a u.s. marine and recipient of the medal of honor is suing a military defense contractor. president obama as you may remember in this really moving ceremony, we spoke to dakota meyer here on "america's newsroom." he awarded him the nation's highest honor for valor back in september. now today coat can meyer is filing a lawsuit against his former employer for defamation and causing him to lose his jobe. peter doocey as the background on this story.

sergeant meyer's old boss prevented him from getting hired somewhere else is his contention? >> they said he was a problem drinker and mentally unstable. in march of this year, sergeant meyer started working at bae systems a defense contractor. when he found out that bae would sell pakistan some high-tech early thermal optic scopes. he didn't like that. he fired off a e-mail sending best technology to date giving them to a guy that stabbed us in the back. these are the same people that are killing our guys. that message caused him to be berated and bee littled by his boss who even made fun much his medal of honor he says. so he can quit and tried to get a job back at another contractor, oscar. when he did, bae gave him a bad reference with the other contractor writing quote, bottom line you were determined not recommended to be placed back on the team due to be mentally unstable and not performing on tasks assigned.

sergeant meyer filed suit against the bae in june. they said he had a problem drinking in social setting. his grandmother told fox news this morning that she has never known her grandson to be a drink jeer wow, that is some story, peter. what is bae's, what are they going to do next? any response from them at this point? >> reporter: yeah, just a few minutes ago they e-mailed me a response that says quote, as an organization whose core focus to support and protect our nation's troops we are incredibly grateful to dakota meyer for his bravery above of the call of duty. we disagree with his claims which we intend to defend through the appropriate legal process. we wish him success and good fortune in all his endove vors. i spoke to a rep from the marines. they will not comment because it happened after sergeant meyer's active duty was finished. martha: think back to our discussion with him and what he did in afghanistan. he is clearly a man of conviction who goes forward

and says what he wants to say and does what he wants to do when he believesist is right. >> reporter: that's right. he disobeyed orders to go back and save all these people. in this case they didn't like that he was going against the grain with his beliefs about their possible business with pakistan and now this happens. martha: we'll reach out to him. maybe we'll get a chance to talk to him about his side of the story. peter thank you very much. bill: he was terrific. martha: a great guy, absolutely. >> the best to him. meantime shades of the 1970s for president obama. new polling shows his approval numbers are even worse then when jimmy carter is in the white house. what is going on with that? martha. martha: financial managers. this one has us talking quite a bit around here. they want a ton of money. $240 million. something like that. bill: a lot of cash. martha: is there more to this story than what they're telling? ♪ . almost tastes like one of jack's als.

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bill: we have breaking news out of iran right now. britain has closed its embassy in tehran and it's ordered all iranian dip loy mats working in the u.k. to get out in two days. this after violence in the british embassy yesterday. hard-line students protesting there, storming that site. amy kellogg is watching the story out of london. amy, what are we learning about yesterday's attack?

why did that happen? >> reporter: bill, we found out the demonstrators vandalized and looted personal residences of embassy staffers. the foreign secretary dismissed earlier reports that there had been hostage taking. bill, it was incredibly violent. the foreign secretary said any suggestion that the iranian government had not been behind these attacks was quote, fanciful. in iran you simply can't walk out on the street protest for women's rights or democracy or anything like that. logic would follow some sort of demonstration or attack would have to have official backing. bill: officially we do not have diplomatic relations with iran. is this a severing of diplomatic relations between the u.k. and iran, amy? >> reporter: bill, this is not at severing of diplomatic relations. this is the lowest level that can exist with some sort of engagement still possible. u.s. officials can not meet with iranian officials without some sort of dispensation. in this case britain has closed its embassy in iran

and the iranian embassy here will be shut but the u.k. wants to keep some minimal level of diplomatic relations going. it is all really just in words so that british diplomats can continue to put pressure on iranian officials for human rights and --. bill: it is a developing story. amy kellogg. good to have you on it. thank you out of london today. >> reporter: thanks. martha: all right, we'll talk about what is going on there and also this. president obama's approval rating has dropped to a historic new low sinking for the first time below jimmy carter's job aprifl rating at the same point in his presidency. look at numbers. this is gallup. it shows he earns the worst job rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern history. 43% is the number. you can see that jimmy carter was at 51% at an equal period in his presidency. then we all remember iranian hostage crisis at the end of

carter presidency which many ways color the people how they remember that presidency. let's get this cooking. alan colmes, host of the alan colmes radio show and tucker carlson, fox news contributor. alan, not concerned about that approval number. >> i should be concerned about it if you're a supporter of the president. i don't think the metrics apply to jimmy carter. you had the hostage crisis, 144 days. it involves britain and not the united states. the president has done very well with foreign policy got bin laden. killed more al qaeda than previous administration in the same time frame. frankly there is no ronald reagan about to emerge in the republican party to capture the imagination of the american public. republicans are not happy with their field. anybody but romney and can't seem to get anything going with anybody. i don't see those metrics applying as they did back then and some other presidents with low approval ratings. >> what do you think about the comparison, tucker. >> obama is the first

democrat since jimmy carter to win the popular vote. quite a feat. to go from that to this took awful work. you had to stay up late to make people dislike you. i think the president is doing a good job doing that. as for foreign policy i don't think the numbers are reflection of american dissatisfaction on foreign policy. obama cam campaigned that his personality would make the world right again. i would do directly to iran. they hate us more now. martha: that is point i want to mention as well. you look at the situation they're not parallel at this point in time. i wonder, folks, smarter than me wondered this as well, whether or not china and iran end up becoming a bigger issue in the presidential election than they are right now? and then your mind goes back to president obama saying i would sit down with ahmadinejad and hillary clinton saying that is terribly naive. where is he while they're storming the british embassy? >> i'm not sure what he is expected to be doing. martha: he said he would sit down and talk to him.

>> maybe at some point he should. think we should talk to our enemies. >> come on alan. this is years. >> we should talk. we should sit down and talk with people our enemies. if anybody we need to talk to it is our enemies. dialogue will solve the problem. what happens after war. you have dialogue. what do you want to do? have a war. martha: why aren't democrats standing up and saying president obama you need to go over and and sit down to ahmadinejad? >> i don't speak for democrats. i speak for me. maybe they should. martha: you would call for the president -- >> look the smart ones know the whole premise was ludicrous on its face. the idea personal appeal the touch of his hand would be enough to make the world like america is false. by the way rumors that joe biden would be kicked off the team in favor of hillary clinton are push wishful thinking. biden is the one guy knows what he is doing. >> i agree. you want to blame barack obama because of every ill

happening in the world because iran is acting up or china is doing something somehow barack obama's fault because he hasn't solved every world problem in four years. he doesn't control the entire world. martha: one other thing. i think it is very significant this morning. let's go back to the debt discussion, okay? my question is, has the president given up on solving the debt issue? he has not, since last week, where is he going next on debt issue? >> he did a brilliant thing he negotiated deal if the super-committee fails, what happens, they cut the defense spending. goes back to prebush tax rates. he gets much of what he wants with the super committee not doing a thing. i think it was master stroke of negotiation without the super-committee he gets what he wanted. martha: independents care a lot about the debt. we know that from a lot of polling that we've seen. he is 30% approval number with independents. tucker, a lot of folks, including lanny davis are calling for the president to sand up say, go back to

simpson-bowles and debt commission findings. go back in a room with the starting point. >> hard to remember last time we had a president so passive in the face of so many different crises. literally from the first week of the administration the idea congress would formulate a recovery plan. congress would do it. kicked the can to congress with the super-committee. >> it is not passive. >> it is utterly passive. this is the executive branch government. what is the plan? >> gives obama exactly what he wanted. 7 trillion dollars in cuts. 7 trillion dollars in cuts. >> alan, listen to the president speak again he refers to his ludicrous second jobs bill. things by no means bold, no serious economist thinks that right the economy. purely a matter of passing to congress. martha: alan is right the president may get exactly what he wants in terms of defense cuts that will kick in. >> $7 trillion. martha: doing it in sort of a passive, position.

>> how much he was able to get -- >> is there anything he could do would not be evidence of his brilliance. >> inside trade fox news. that would be harmful. -- invade. martha: alan, thank you. tucker, thank you. love having you here in the studio. let's do it again next time. bill: that would make news here. >> i would be against it by the way. bill: alan, i know you would. latest twist in the powerball jackpot in connecticut history, the largest jackpot ever. three money managers deny a claim they're collecting $254 million for anonymous fourth person. there has been some kind of reaction to this story. listen. >> i would say the rich get richer [laughter] >> hopefully they will give back a little bit and donate. give to those that don't have. bill: rick leventhal is not the fourth man. >> reporter: allegedly. bill: allegedly. what have the three said about the claims that they're just a front? >> reporter: bill they're

denying through an attorney and pr firm. they haven't said publicly much at all. here are the only comments made by the three at monday's press conference. watch. >> i'm greg skidmore and this is brandon wycoff and to his right is tim davidson. we're the trustees. >> yeehaw. [applause] >> it feels good. >> reporter: yesterday, reports surface ad friend of one of the men and landlord say it wasn't their ticket at all. it belonged to a client came to them asking for help. a trust was formed to manage the money on his behalf. the trio released a statement to clear up what they called speculation and misinformation. this part has been established to manage the winnings in most practical and expedient way possible. to be clear there are a total of three trustees. there is no anonymous fourth participant. men went on to announce in next 10 days they will give

1 million dollars to connecticut charities benefiting military veterans. bill: if these claims about a fourth man are true, what happens to the money or what would happen to it? >> reporter: that is a big question. the rules of the connecticut powerball say the real winner shall be disclosed. if not there is some question whether the winning ticket will be ruled invalid. the lottery released its own statement, the connecticut lottery processed the november 2011 powerball claim within ethical rules and standards. it is not uncommon as winners to be identified as winners, trusts or other legal entities. they told their friend to stop talking with media. they want to come clean but do it through their pr firm. a 100 million bucks could be on the line. bill: that could hire a good pr firm. >> reporter: they have one. bill: they could hire even more if they need it. >> reporter: absolutely. bill: rick leventhal. martha: one million to charity? 240 something million dollars. bill: who are we to judge. i'll tell you who is winning

the lottery right now, everyone that has a 401(k). because in 10 minutes of trading the stock market just booming right now. martha: i didn't make $240 million. anyway, up 327 points right now. this is because ever the joint intervention by the world central banks to try to save europe, folks. as you heard from stuart varney earlier today, why couldn't germany do it? everyone was begging germany to help. the stock market likes when they know things aren't falling apart. they don't like tough love. they like a rescue. that's what we're seeing here. whether or not it is the best thing for the long term global economy is another question. bill: we're getting up to 12,000 again. if we break that mark, it could be off to the races. martha: whether it is a big fat bandaid may come home to roost later is a big question. bill: a turn any get, right -- tourniquet, right? martha: right. bill: justice department officials heading to alabama to check out the state's toughest immigration law.

martha: what a story this has been. herman cain set to talk about the way forward in his campaign. his camp says there is no way that he is going to drop out but will mrs. cain change that? we'll be talking about that when we come back. a big story today.

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bill: all right. it is america's toughest immigration law of any state but the obama administration says that alabama's new law is too tough and now the justice department sending two of its top people south to investigate. senior legal fellow of heritage foundation, a former prosecutor. he supports the law. good morning to you. >> hi, bill. bill: michael wilde, immigration attorney. former federal prosecutor is against it. >> good morning. bill: the feds say rights of

immigrants in alabama are being trampled. they have the evidence to prove it. what do you say? >> we don't know exactly how the law is being implemented but the fact of the matter the obama administration has losing record before the supreme court. for example the arizona law earlier this spring the supreme court came down whiting versus chamber of commerce allowed the state's law, mandatory use of e-verify and punishing businesses who knowingly hire illegals by stripping their business licenses. those provisions were upheld by the supreme court. alabama had those two provisions in their law and some others that a federal judge temporarily upheld. so i think the administration is frustrated that states are allowed to play an immigration context. they are allowed. the supreme court said so. the federal law said so. bill: here is what the feds always said, michael. i will get you to jump in here. they say it is our law to enforce immigration laws and not the straits. that is the original case

when arizona passed their law. they said the states are making things worse. how so if the states are trying to enforce their laws locally. >> no doubt. without intended action in washington to take the law in their own hand to make sure we protect our boardses and make -- borders make sure americans have a leg up in the economy. immigration is a federal matter. it belongs in the hands of the federal government. the unintended consequences of this new law in alabama is the most severest that we've seen. if you are effectively driving a carpool and there is child in there that is illegal you can be arrested. now it is a crime to illegally enter the united states as we see in the photo on your television but the on going maintenance of your status in america is technically not criminal. yes, immigration requires you to carry documents to show you're lawfully here but the forensics and resources police authorities have is way less on point and --. bill: you are making the

argument that we heard from people from washington since this debate began. is he right? that it is washington's job? and if it's washington's job, the states don't have a say? >> respectfully no. michael is not entirely right on that. the federal immigration statute, the key one here at play, in fact requires, contemplates states and localities playing in the enforcement role. >> that is supporting role. >> supporting. >> supporting role only. federal mandate of immigration. >> it is semantic difference. it is distinction without a difference quite frankly. many of these questions --. bill: hang on, michael. the let cully finish. i'll get back to you. >> the questions before the circuit court have never been answered by the supreme court. what the states are doing what they craft these laws carefully and this one is crafted carefully, passing last consistent with federal law, not preempting federal

law. as long as they stay in that lane they're on safe ground. bill: the supreme court will decide this. michael, do you agree with that ultimately? all the states, alabama, south carolina or arizona? >> what you don't want to have here, bill, is patchwork of enforcement where we have because of different commerce and interests between the gulf states, between the farm belt and urban and suburban areas different immigration enforcement. you don't want to have police enforcing federal immigration because --. bill: that is what they're doing now in a lost these states. alabama, you can arrest anyone you suspect being illegal during a routine traffic stop. similar to arizona. make it crime to transport illegal immigrant. >> completely wrong. bill: requires schools to report i am independent -- immigration of students. i wish i could give you more time that is what they're doing in alabama. we'll bring both back. martha? martha: get a lot of attention today. his target was president ronald reagan.

and now the man who pulled the trigger to try to kill a president of the united states could be leased and set free. the reagan family very unhappy about this. that's coming up. bill: also the reason kids want you to get a happy meal any way. it is the toy inside. martha: of course it is. >> like crackerjacks. in one city mcdonald's will charge you for that. we'll tell you why a local government pushed the fast-food chain into this decision. martha: the french fries are also a pretty good reason, now that i think about it. ♪ . are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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>> they came in a happy meal. they were mcdonald's new food changeables. in the hands of your

innocent children. bill: innocent children. looks like ronald mcdonald gets last laugh. san francisco passed a law requiring fruit and vegetables to be served with any meal that comes with a toy, obviously aimed with a happy meal. mcdonald's found a way around it. taking away the free toy but before kids revolt everywhere they can get a toy. mom and dad has to pay for it. 10 cents. the meal doesn't come with a free toy. mcdonald's doesn't need to add fruit and veggies to it. we hear the money goes to ronald mcdonald house charities. the tradition lives on. martha: the toy with the happy meal but the fact they have to go to the lengths to do that. what is meal, not a meal? it a private company. can't they sell stuff the way they want to. bill: apparently not. martha: more on that later. you can tweet me about that. this is an incredible story. who forgets that moment, who can forget that moment i should say. look at the video.

remember that day? he is the man who shot president reagan. now believe it or not, he could soon be getting out of a mental hospital which was where he went instead of prison. molly henneberg live in our washington bureau with more on this. molly, why does the hospital think hinckley should be allowed at this stage more time away from the hospital? >> reporter: hi, martha. the actual court filings from st. elizabeth hospital are private. they pushed for more freedom for the as failed assassin many times. hingely was granted number of visits with his 85-year-old mom in williamsburg, virginia. they want to increase his days from the mental institution from 17 to 24 days. this may be the most controversial part. if those visits go well the hospital wants to be able to decide if he can live with his mom full time rather than leaving that decision up to the court. hinckley's lawyer says in october says there is no

evidence him being dangerous, not a little bit. the not marginal evidence. the government's claims to the contrary are shameful fear-mongering without any factual basis. the government argues that hinckley is still dangerous and points specifically to hinckley's thoughts about women. remember he was said to have shot reagan to get actress jodie foster's attention. the government says that hinckley, quote, continues to be deceptive regarding his relationships and interests in women. and that he is quote, still not sufficiently well to alleviate the concern that this violence may be repeated. this hearing may go on for more than a week. the judge will likely take some time before making his decision. martha? martha: molly henneberg, we know from our previous reporting that the reagan family is very upset about that possibility. thank you very much. bill: in the past hinckley has gotten nowhere. look at the dow. it is shooting to the roof. we're up 400 points now. all in an effort to print money to prop up the global economy. is that good news for america? eric bolling on that.

martha: big question on that one. presidential candidate mitt romney answering tough questions on "special report". next what really got him a bit hot under the collar last night. ♪ . [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. martha: the republican rivalry is now heating up for the first time really, the big change in the game now is that mitt romney has turned his focus away from president obama which he has been squarely focused on throughout this whole process. he has now turned and taken aim at a member of his own party, newt gingrich, who has also been firing back at him. it's fascinating to watch this development. it's the first time he has taken on people in the gop. that's how we get started for this brand-new hour of "america's newsroom." i'm martha maccallum. bill: i'm bill hemmer. he was asked a question and romney fought back. >> how can voters trust what

they here from you today is what you will believe if you win the white house. >> brett your list is just not accurate. one, you have to be better informed about my views on issues. >> do you think man dating people to bin shaourpbs i by insurance is right you said at times it would be a model for the nation. >> you're wrong, brett. no, brett, brett -- martha: very interesting. those are just some pieces of it. it was a wide-ranging interview, and i really encourage everybody to go to the website at foxnews.com at special report and take a look at the whole thing. it did get a little bit heat at times. mitt romney was clearly defensive throughout several portion -fs that. of that. jonah goldberg joins me.

he's a fox news contributor. he was trying to hone in on one of the issues that is clearly part of what mitt romney has to tkpwab grapple with. he seemed to get a little bit defensive. >> it's heated for mitt romney, and heated for mitt romney makes him sound like he's trying to return a tie at brooks brothers. the healthcare thing is a problem for him, it's a bigger problem for him in the primary than it would be in the general election. i think a lot of people misunderstands that. mitt romney in his interview last night said, look if i was such a flip-flopper why haven't i abandoned my position on romney care in massachusetts? the simple reason for that is there there would be no saving his reputation. he has to stand for something he did. a lot of his answer *er answers were too cute by half or slightly muddled.

martha: do you think he's off his game because he's feeling the heat from newt gingrich? none of the other contenders have rattled him but i think he is a bit rattled by newt gingrich's ride. >> you do get the sense of that. he thought once rick perry blew up and michelle bachmann blue up he pretty much has clear saying. newt gingrich rises from the dead and has this remarkable surge in the polls. my sense is that they would be much less worried about it if the voting wasn't coming very soon. if you're surging when the voting comes you have a real problem. martha: south carolina is fascinating to me, the big question is if herman cain is sliding who is getting his votes? he had about 30% of what was going on out there with the gop. it looks like those votes, at least in south carolina are swinging to gingrich in a big way. >> public policy polling came out and said herman cain

supporters love newt gingrich and just don't like mitt romney. the lion's share of the votes will be going to newt or the other candidates and not mitt romney jo that has to be frustrating for the romney camp at well. we have a long way to go. bret baier will join us what the 10:30. he will talk about the interview. there is more of the interview to come, fascinating back and forth and great questions from bret coming up in about 30 minutes from now. bill: you can open your eyes, america and look at your 401k. take a look at the big board up 399 points in about 34 minutes of trading. we are just back to that 12,000 mark yet again for the dow. this is phenomenal followed by a surge yesterday. all of this is happening because the world's great powers have got even together and said, europe we will save you. good idea? eric bolling of follow the money

and host of the 5. good morning. it's the central bank, japan it's the united states saying what. >> there is the important one. until we got involved there really wasn't that much of an effect. a lot of the countries in europe are having a lot of problems. we talked about it greece, italy, spain, por port-au-princportugal. they are one eurozone to euro dollar. they turn to the world community, to us the united states and say, hey will you be our printing press? we said, okay we will. we going to go ahead and print hundreds of billions of u.s. dollars, give them to the eurozone countries at below market interest rates. in other words, you're actually handing them u.s. dollars at below market. we're giving them money, access to dollars, and now bailing -- in a sense bailing them out. it is a loan, technically it's a

loan, so they'll pay us back. but they are paying us back with a a cheaper currency and paying us back with fewer dollars that we could get on the open market. bill: we've been printing money here for a while. we have had two huge rounds. how long trillions then? >> no, no, no you're talking trillions, you're a hundred percent right. when we have a fed chairman ben bernanke come on and say, no, no this isn't printing money, well, sir, yes it is we are in the deficit, we are at $15 trillion in the whole. if we were in the surpluses long out those dollars i would agree with you. because we're in a deficit we're going to print, give it to them and by the way that is printing new money. it's a little shall lash lash. bill: why are we saving europe? >> investors like it. the stock market is up 400 points. the problem is is we're bailing out european governments, it's

helping stock markets around the world. you know what it does also, look at the price of oil up $2 a bail. gold up $30 and ounce. inflation will come back. stu varney said it earlier. he's a hundred percent right. it's mom and pop in kansas who don't have a 401k, prices for their stuff is going to go up to bail out people with 401k. bill: we're watching the stock market move. it's phenomenal to see where it has gone in 34 minutes. on the 5, eric bolling. martha: let's bring our attention overseas now. it's what many feared after the fall of hosni mubarak that we could first see the first signs of an islamic government taking hold in egypt. we have the first round of elections expected today. the extremist muslim brotherhood is poised to pick up as much as 40% of the vote in that

parliamentary election in egypt. that has sparked fear across the border in israel and in the united states as well. the muslim brotherhood has a stated mission to establish an islamic state that is based on sharia law in egypt. it has more than 300,000 members. hamas began as a branch ever the muslim brotherhood. and osama bin laden's top deputy once belonged to this group. it raises a lot of concerns. greg pal d palkot is live in cairo. >> the turn out was very big, maybe 50, 60, 70%ee seupgss th % egyptians that came out and expressed their position. the freedom and justice part taoeparty of the islamist brotherhood group did very well. some say 40%, some say higher.

more islamist group inks are skroeg righs are scoring well. martha: this has been anticipated and talked about since the fall of hosni mubarak. what will that mean with relations with israel, greg. >> reporter: on the ground we've been haoebging with official peeking with the muslim brotherhood. they say they are inclusive, they are open and ready to accept various people and parties. much support was heard from people that we talked to on the street, however, they do say that sharia law will be a cornerstone of any future government they could be a part of. at least three different woman we spoke to on the street expressed their concern. they said in fact they were worried about an extremist government. as for foreign policy, what

about israel again? we spoke to one official of the muslim brotherhood organization, that's what he told me about relations between egypt and israel. >> it's up to the israelis to determine the path of such a relationship. if they keep breaking the treaties that egypt is having with them, definitely we have to reconsider the relations. >> reporter: they are against terror, they are against incidents but they want to define terror relations with the united states. they are waiting to see how washington will assess their presence in the government. now we're still early on this. martha. secular, liberal parties should do well. also the military officials are still in the background. but, again early indication -gs of wherindications of where this country could be going. back to you. martha: important times in egypt. greg palkot in cairo. bill: such mystery as to how that country goes. known really knows, 60% turn out already. martha: all this talk about the arab spring we are starting to

see exactly what direction it's heading in and a lot remains to be written there. bill: some say spring is wurpbg into winter. turning into winter. herman cain is facing a lot of accusations but his camp says he is not dropping out. we'll talk about that next. martha: michelle parker's former fiance is now the prime suspect in her mysterious disappearance. what happens to the couples children? that is about to be decided in court. bill: sure is. five people on board a small plane, one in need of urgent medical care, that is when disaster strikes. >> all of a sudden i hear a big thud, almost like thunder, a big thunder strike coming down. i thought it was just another rainstorm, a big rainstorm coming by, then my sister came into the room kind of screaming and she said, i think a reign crashed. a plane crashed. 

bill: we are learning that three

people have lost their lives in the crash of a medical transport plane. listen here. >> you are declaring an emergency? >> yes, ma'am. >> flight 773. [inaudible] >> we are out of fuel and we are coasting. >> 59773 do you have the airport in sight? >> negative. bill: no airport in sight and coasting on fumes. the plane went down north of chicago. the pilot and two of the passengers -- one of the passengers, a patient, died in that. martha: let's go back to politics for a moment here. presidential candidate herman cain campaigning through the swing state of ohio right now. he's back on the campaign trial this morning, and this is happening just hours before we expect an announcement on his, quote, way forward in the 2012 race. this comes after allegations of a 13-year extramarital affair surfaced this week. let's bring in n, ger innis who

is herman cain's senior adviser. good morning to you. good to have you here today. >> good to be on with you martha. martha: when you heard this news about this woman what was your reaction? were you frustrated, angry? >> i was angry, very frustrated. what you have is you have a coordination of the establishment that is trying to block out herman cain for different reasons. i mean on the one hand you have democrats who clearly are going to be running, at least the democratic establishment, i don't want to blame all democrats, but the democratic establishment that is going to run a dived and conquer campaign, and herman cain's relevance in that campaign undermines that narrative, it cuts against the grain of trying to free eight a friction between americans. on the other hand you have some within the republican establishment that quite frankly don't like herma herman cain for different roerpbgs is that

he is a manifestation of the citizens movement and the tea party that took place in 2012, they don't like the tea party. martha: you may be right about the currents that may exist against the candidate that you support so fi. i'm not sure people sitting around their kitchen table when they heard this woman who frankly to most people seemed to be fairly credible, now you hear stories that they were texting as early as last week, i don't think they say, one situation could be an anomaly, another could be someone making stuff up, if you put it all together it undermines his credibility. like it or not that's what tends to happen if you get all of these things put together. >> i hear you, but i think the american people are fair, and i think the american people realize that there is a death of a thousand cuts that is being attempted on the character of

this candidate, and here you have a situation where you have no evidence, you have no, if you will, dna on a blue dress here, and you have guilt simply by accusation, and it would be terribly unfortunate if a candidate, and would set a terrible precedent if a candidate just because he or she is accused to drop out. he's not dropping out, martha. martha: did you look him in the eye and ask him, did you have a 13-year a fair with this woman. >> i just saw herman this weekend, so i was not aware of the allegation. i be tell you i've communicated with him since this allegation came out. easy shourd me, and the american people that this is untrue, and it's an allegations that has no grounding at all. frankly, i believe in our legal system and the court of public opinion and the decency of the american people that you are innocent until proven guilty. and in all these cases there is no there, there.

martha: you have the text messages, and the phone numbers. >> test messages, i sent a text message last night at 5:00 in the morning that i had no relationship. martha: maybe they had a long friendship where they sent text messages all the time. when you put it all together it's obviously causing problems. he himself said he is reassessing whether he's going to run. some people think he's hanging in there through nevada to create a better ending for him for all this. he doesn't want to walk out right now because it leaves a bad feeling out there. if he hangs in through nevada he can change the narrative a about it and end on a better note, is that true? >> that's not true at all. he has filed in over ten states bug texas, florida, all the early states, nevada he filed yesterday, paid the fees yesterday. by next week he will be filed in over 14 states. herman cain is in this race throughout this campaign. the establishment, be it the

republican establishment or the democratic establishment or the media establishment is not going to scare this man off. martha: all right. mr. innis thank you very much for being with us today and for telling your side and his side of the story, we appreciate it sir, good to see you. bill: moments ago he was wrapping up a speech in westchester, ohio, he's going to continue there, dayton and columbus is the itinerary in the buckeye state. should lawmakers be able to make money off inside information here on capitol hill? for the moment it is legal. a new push to treat congress like everybody else. martha: mitt romney sits down with fox news in an interest grew with bret baier. interview with bret baier. he talked about immigration, and he talked about newt gingrich like nobody has talked about it. >> he's a life-long politician. i think have to have the credibility of understanding how the economy works and i do, and that's one reason i'm in this

race. pwhraf medicare. it doesn't cover everything.

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of congress, don't dare make a trade on a stock based on inside information. this on the heels of news reports earlier in the month examining investment choices by several politicians, including john boehner and nancy pelosi. we have the cosponsor of senator scott brown's bill aiming to end any inside trading in congress. senator, welcome to "america's newsroom." >> i was glad to join with scott brown on his bill. bill: by the way, pelosi and john boehner deny any wrongdoing in all of this. what is your guess about the information they pick up in meetings.

>> my guess knowing both john boehner and pelosi there was no wrongdoing. we should make sure there is no appearance of that as well. this law says the same scc violations that would occur with anybody who has inside information would also be violations if you're a member of congress. i've been in lots of meetings in washington d.c., and in very few of them did i find out anything that i couldn't have learned on fox news, or fox business, or read in the paper, but if you do find out something that nobody else knows you shouldn't be able to use it. bill: that is interesting. >> i want to be clear about that. bill: if you've been in a meeting about a weight loss drug about to be approved or an aircraft company about to get a lucrative contract, you hear about that before we do. >> well, if that's the case i shouldn't be able to take advantage of that. i've been in lots of congressional briefings where i could go outside and stand and listen to fox news or fox business, or some other news affiliate and get the same information i was getting

inside. if you do get that kind of special information about a contract, about the banks environment we were in in 2008 and beyond, you shouldn't be able to take advantage of it. members of the house and senate report lots of things now. one of the other things that we'd require is instead of that annual report, if you do have a stock transaction over a thousand dollars you have to report it quarterly instead of annually. if someone wants to make it quicker than that that would be okay too. usually the best information is just bub disclosure of wha public disclosure of what you're doing, and making an insider violation a violation should assure people that members of congress aren't going to take advantage of things that other people don't know. bill: it sounds like this has touched a nerve among your colleagues, has it? >> i think it probably has. all of my colleagues understand that when the approval of congress is at 9% or 13% or whatever that low number is, you

ought to be doing all you can to assure people that members of congress are living under the same laws that other people in our country live under. this would be an example where you're saying, what is good for the stock trader, what is good for the person on the corporate board also applies to members of the congress if they know that kind of information. bill: it only makes sense otherwise that 9% drops to 4.5 the way things are going. >> i'm not sure where the 9% are coming from based on whether it's approval of the job being done in washington right now. anything we can do to create a greater assurance. bill: understood. >> that the people in washington have the same obligations that the people all over the rest of the country have, we oubgt t ought to be doing it. bill: we'll see fit gets pushed through. >> hopefully we can get it done. bill: martha. martha: backlash is blowing off a cover off a deadly mistake by uncle sam. fast and furious went horribly

wrong. what happened to the agents who exposed that scandal. bill: it might not be no more mr. nice guy for mitt romney, taking aim at beginning r-frpl newt gingrich. that is coming up. martha: all cutting edge technology, bill, take a look at the future of robotics. watch that thing. ♪ [singing] or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

money on a gym, they usually end up watching a tv while working out.

traoels up 407 points on this wednesday morning. any way the reason is that all of these federal reserve banks from all over the world have got even together and they are trying to bail out europe. i know from everything that people are tweeting me out there, some of you are not too happy about that. the market is certainly very happy about it. 11,965 is where it sits right now, joint effort to save europe. the market is liking that quite a bit, though. bill: it's like marshal plan 2.0. i think we're at it again. martha: it has the same kind of consequences. bill: we're at it again 70 years late. we got a better look at mitt romney after an extensive interest view with our bret baier. a wide ranging discussion that

hit all the issues including the competition, watch. >> if speaker gingrich became the republican nominee do you think he could beat president obama in 2012. >> i think i stand the best shot beating president obama among the republicans in the field. to get president obama out of office you have to bring something to the race that is different than what he brings. he's a life-long politician. i think you have to have the credibility of understanding how the economy works and i do, and that's one reason i'm in this race. bill: that is part of what is getting major headlines today. bret baier, anchor of special report. how are you doing, bret. >> reporter: hi, bill, good morning. bill: i really enjoyed your interview. i find a certain cough dense in mitt romney that i did not see in 2008. i don't know if you found that also. let me talk about gingrich and romney in a moment. what surprised you, based on your discussion and your conversation yesterday? >> reporter: well, what has surprised me in the aftermath of it is the varied assessment of the interview, and how governor

romney did. i mean many people see governor rom n romney answering what what are tough questions we thought about issues that he's facing from opponents on both sides, democrats and republicans. many of his supporters, governor romney's supporters said he performed excellently. he performed superior to answer those tough questions. other people looked at the interview and said, he seemed irtaeutd irritated and tense and didn't handle the interview well. the split on my panel last night was evident as well in terms of the interview. these what surprised me most. bill: the one part that almost struck me as uncomfortable is when he said i don't know how many hundred times i've said this, this is an unusual interview. all right, let's do it again. now, was that directly related to healthcare at the time when he was governor in massachusetts, bret?

>> reporter: that was the questioning about the mandate and the defending of massachusetts healthcare. one of the most interesting points of it in talking about the gingrich and romney back and forth is when governor romney said, listen, if i just said things to get elected, why would i continue to defend massachusetts healthcare? and he said, i've seen people on debate stages, you know, say it was a mistake in my climate change past supporting climate change legislation, it was a mistake for me to do a global warming ad directly pointing towards newt gingrich. that was one of the moments in which not only the life-long politician, but also mentioning that global warming ad, where governor romney essentially took a shot back at newt gingrich. this is a different moment. i think we are entering a different stepped up intensity of this campaign as we close in on the iowa caucuses. bill: i think you're right about that. >> reporter: it's going to get a little bit ug gear.

billuglier. >> if i was going to say anything to get elected won't i say, oh it was a mistake. i've watched other people on the stage when they talk about cap and trade, they said oh, that was a mays take. when they say oh i did this ad on global warming that was a mistake. bill: what that tells you is he's going to run on his record for healthcare in massachusetts, he's not going to running away from it. when it comes to the whole idea about gingrich you asked him about that, right? that was not a comment that came out of left field. >> reporter: the question actually was from steve hayes. we brought panel questions to governor romney, and the question was, can you name a couple of instances where you are against -- you stand for something against the conservative base of your party? and he got to defending massachusetts healthcare as one of the issues in which, you know, if he was all about political expediency, why would he do that. that was his answer to that

question. but there was -- there were a number of instances throughout the interview where gingrich and what he said, the endorsement of the union leader came up. bill: you did a great job. you pushed him hard too in a lot of different cases. who is next on center seat? have we run through everybody yet? >> reporter: that's it. we've had seven candidates here in the studio, and governor romney down in miami. we've done all the candidates. we may continue to do -- bill: part two. >> reporter: big names. bill: i like it. bret, thanks, we'll see you at 6:00, okay. >> reporter: thank you. bill: special report with bret baier, 6:00 every night. martha: i really enjoyed that. bill: an eye-opener two. apparently romney didn't like the set up for center seat, that's yes had to go town to florida to interview him. there you have it. martha:

martha: federal agents say they are the victims of pay back. william william la jeunesse is on the story for us since day one. >> reporter: initialeer the department of justice denied it even happened. because of the whistle blowers the agency had to admit it was wrong. as for those who stepped up, their lives have changed for the worse, and those who ran the program have not been punished. >> any attempt to retaliate against them for their testimony today would be unfair, unwise, and unlawful. >> reporter: and yet atf agents claim that is exactly what happened to the fast and furious whistle blowers. >> they risk everything knowing that everything they've worked for, their careers, their reputations, their finances are all going to be ruined. >> reporter: eight agents took their stories up to capitol hill. for most it's been all downhill since. >> this is what we were ordered to do and every time we question that order, you know, there was

punitive action. >> reporter: the atf forced agent john dodson out of phoenix leaving him with a house he can't sell. he now lives in a south carolina apartment with his two children. agent larry alt says he has unresolved retaliation claims against the agency. agent pete percelli was black bald and demoted to a desk job despite what washington claims publicly. >> the department of justice, would not, would never retaliate against whistle blowers. >> reporter: none of the executives who oversaw fast and furious were fired, some were promoted. phoenix chief bill newell now a manager in washington. former acting chief ken melson to the office of legal affairs. bill mcmahon proposed to the director of internal affairs. >> these guys are protected, insulated, all part of the club. >> reporter: the atf says the moves are not promotions,

transfers. only one person resigned, dennis burke in arizona. they say they are still waiting for an inspector general's report before they take any further actions. martha: very interesting reporting. william thank you so much. bill: a florida mother of three now missing for two and a half weeks, michelle parker's former fiance has hired a high-powered lawyer once involved in the casey anthony matter. martha: those names go round and round in those cases, right. a rare moment of bi-partisanship on capitol hill honoring gabrielle giffords. have you to see this. coming up right after the break. stay with us, everybody.

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the line of duty. 402 members cosponsored that resolution. >> it's incredibly important to gabby, to gabby's entire team that gabe, who was -- who she was so close to, and he was such a special individual -- bill: sure was. congresswoman giffords recovering from her injuries, that was the moment in early august when she appeared, unannounced, on the floor of the house. martha: very nice tribute to gabe simmer man. there is a custody battle about to get underway in this case we've been following here in "america's newsroom" of this missing mom, merck he will parker. she ace appeared after appearing on people's court. a hearing today will determine whether the twins should be returned to her x, the police investigating him as a primary suspect in her disappearance.

rod wheeler is a former d.c. homicide detective. good to have you here. >> good morning, martha. how are you. martha: i'm doing well. dale smith jr. has hired an attorney. he refused to take a polygraph test in this. never talked to the press, never came out and said he was concerned about his missing wife, right? >> he's supposed to be so concerned about finding michelle, not only did he not go out and hire he ca equa search, he went out and hired a high profile attorney. the police -- he has not been in touch with the police. they did interview him, martha, three times. from what i hear in recent reports he has not cooperated that much. a lot of investigation he gave to the investigators in orland do is simply not adding up. martha: tell us what the police would be doing right now. they've pointed the finger at this man as a primary suspect in a missing woman case.

he is not under arrest. so are they watching him everywhere he goes? what is going on? >> think about it in terms of the laci peterson case. many similarities with this case. i do believe that they are watching him, they are watching his whereabouts. at the same time, mart that, they are investigating other leads that come in as well. but at the same time they are also continuing to examine pieces of evidence that they actually recovered from the home. as you know they did a search warrant at dale's father's home about three or four days ago. they haven't said exactly what they got out of that home, but from what my sources are telling me they did recover some evidence. they are not saying what it is. but they did recover some evidence, and that is the reason, martha, why they are calling him a prime suspect right now, because of some evidence that they got out of that home. martha: clearly the whole game changed after they did that. we saw the s.w.a.t. team went in over the weekend. it was a very dramatic take that of home and a search of that home and everything changed, he became a prime suspect right

after that. clearly they found something that they felt was fairly definitive in there. talk to mow a little bit about the children. that was one ever the questions we had yesterday. apparently michelle parker's family had not seen the children since the mother -- this is your grandchildren. and they were staying with their father, dale smith jr., what is going one that? >> here is the thing. any time a child or children is in an environment that is considered unstable by the courts, the courts will typically bring those children out of that situation until the situation is resolved. that is the reason for the hearing today. the children were taken out yesterday until the hearing today. and i believe that the kids are going to be allowed to stay away from the home. that is the primary reason. i don't think it's for any other reason at this point. martha: all right, rod, it is a mysterious case and we are on top of it with your help, sir. thank you so much for joining us this morning. >> thank you, martha. bill: waiting on jon scott to tell us what is coming up next on "happening now." how you doing jon, good morning to you. jon: hope your voice can holdout

another 13 minutes or so. breaking news all over at this hour. have you seen the markets? the dow up well over 400 points at this hour after central banks around the world act to shore up the banking system. the united kingdom gives iran two days to close its embassy and get its people out of the country. it's all in response to the attack on the british embassy in tehran. romney versus gingrich in the battle for the gop nomination, and the gloves are coming off. we have breaking news how one of those contenders stacks up in a nation-wide poll against president obama. we want to hear from you. go to foxnews.com and click on america's asking tab to weigh in. bill: we will do that. cain is out there talking again today too. he bursts into a home, held a couple hostage. today jesse dimmick from behind bars is aoug the people he terrorized. you tell me how that works. martha: that is a good one. all right well he could be the most agile and nimble little

robot we've ever seen. he's doing the worm there. oh, it's the limbo, he's going under that thing. we'll be right back. ok, people. show me the best way to design a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine. ooh! see what anandra did? booking your flight and hotel at the same time gets you prices hotels and airlines won't let expedia show separately. book it. major wow factor! where you book matters. expedia.

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[singing] bill: the cutting edge of

technology at harvard features a robotic gumbie, the first ever rubberized robot. it can wiggle through tight spaces. the possibilities my next guest says. bill nyes, the science guy g. morning to you. >> i'm good, my voice is mine. bill: i feel great, i just sound like i'm 50%. you say you're surprised this was not done sooner. what are the benefits of this little slinky thing here? >> when you think of robots you might think of science fiction movies with pullies and gears and belts and so on. this has no hard parts, so it gets its stiffness from air in this case. i will say also, just look at it, it looks like a human is operating it. it doesn't look like it's a computer program where they've worked out the details of timing. it looks like there is a little front to back issue.

but it works the same issue that spiders do, that is how spiders extend their a pe appendages, by pumping blood into their antenni. bill: they are sending air through this device and that's what gives it the movement? >> yeah, yeah, the tube is coming out the tail there, that's where air pumps in. it looks like they've worked out this thing where it always curls the same way and it curls in sequence. i think there are little gaps or option between each of the many chambers, and i won't be surprised if it had been manufactured by so-called printing or rapid proceed tow taoeufplgt i mean it's good. bill: it's like a seven t centi perks de that moves down the sidewalk. you say the see hires it's opted by a computer. >> it will be one day you can program such a thing to

automatically find its way around corners, under doors. you could look for people after earthquakes u could could have manufacturing processes where you want to clamp things and hold them while you put the label on the bottle and so on without the draw back of accidentally crashing them, and so this is just the next step. i think the real key is two things, mass producing the materials to have different sticky nestinessess from front to back, and the other thing is the computer programming. bill: when i think of a robotic device i think about metal or steel and this is not that, right, this is silicone. >> it's silicone, and it's a gorgeous thing. you achieve stiffness with pressure and not easy to do. bill: unless you're at harvard apparently. >> this is, by the way i think it's good. it's good.

way to go you guys, i remind everybody, of course, have your babies grow up to be newscasters bill, that is great, but we want your babies to grow up to be engineers. bill: bill nye gives har sr-rd a gold star. thanks you, bill. martha: not a news anchor, an engineer, do you hear me? bill: what's wrong -- martha: we're fine. it's a little bit crowded in that field. engineering is a good thin. i think i can sneak up and get my keys. a secret underground project now underway at the white house. what could they possibly be building? when we come back. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made.

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